Hi, LifeKit listeners. We have a favor to ask. We want to make LifeKit even more useful and

enjoyable for you. And to do that, we need your help. Please consider completing a short

anonymous survey at npr.org slash podcast survey. It'll help us out so much and will give you a

chance to tell us more about what you like or don't like about the show. Again, you can take the

survey at npr.org slash podcast survey. And thanks. Hey there, this is LifeKit. My name is

Maya Aina. I'm a reporter and a producer and I'm also very online. Now one thing you should know

about me is I love my apps. I'm always on Twitter constantly posting on my Instagram stories. I can

spend hours watching TikToks. I know, I know, it doesn't sound like the healthiest behavior.

Some of you are cringing at the thought of making a Twitter thread. And don't get me wrong. I also

enjoy other things like taking road trips with friends and picnicking in the park. I have to have

something to put on Instagram. But seriously though, I regularly look at my timelines and smile.

Many of my friendships are rooted in internet mean culture. That's not to say that it's all

roses and daisies on my corner of the internet. I distinctly remember when the practice of sharing

videos of police brutality and murder became normalized, increasing the chances that I would

randomly see a human gun down at some point in the day. I remember when I was trying to lose some

weight and my timeline was tap dancing on the line between being inspiring and being completely

demoralizing. There are a million and one ways to experience what we know as the internet.

Finding and creating that balance has been an ongoing project for me. And one that I'd like to

explore with all of you. What I want to know is, if I'm going to be on the internet, how can I get

more of those good feelings unless of the just toxic hellish eat me off this planet feelings?

That's what we're looking into on this episode of Life Kit on how to have a healthier relationship

with social media. Whether you want to break up. I just was like I'm out there's no good reason

...